A survey conducted by Perrys Chartered Accountants shows that 75% of people still believe that investing in buy-to-let is worthwhile, with the proportion jumping to 83% among millennials. Among reasons that may deter people from BTL investment, 28% said Brexit uncertainty was a factor, while 29% pointed to increased tax and stamp duty rates.
Financial Reporter

Lenders received more than 45,000 applications yesterday for the new Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS). As outlined by Rishi Sunak last week, the BBLS scheme went live at 9am on Monday morning, with Barclays seeing 200 applications in the first minute and Lloyds 5,000 within three hours. The new loan scheme is designed to complement the existing CBILS facility and is available for loans of up to £50,000. Brokers should note that the BBLS and CBILS loans cannot be used in conjunction with each other. Last week, the number of CBILS loans agreed was 8,638, down from more than 9,000 the previous week. Of the 52,807 loans applied for, almost 28,000 have still to be approved. The NACFB has also issued guidance to all Members yesterday, advising brokers to signpost all BBLS enquiries straight to an accredited lender on the scheme.
NACFB, Coronavirus update

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has suggested that homeowners struggling with mortgage repayments should not be offered payment holidays, saying that that further breaks are “unlikely to be the appropriate solution” for borrowers. While lenders have been offering three month repayment breaks on mortgages, credit cards and personal loans amid the coronavirus crisis, the FCA says new measures may be more appropriate, such as extending the term of the loan or allowing borrowers to resume payments at a lower level than they were before the crisis. Analysis shows that while one in every five mortgages in Britain went unpaid at the peak of the crisis, far fewer borrowers applied for a second three-month pause on payments.
The Daily Telegraph

An increase in buy-to-let mortgage business over the next year is predicted on the back of strong remortgage levels and portfolio expansions, with research by Paragon finding a fifth of brokers expect more buy-to-let business this year, compared to 11% who believe there will be less. Richard Rowntree, managing director of mortgages at Paragon, commented: “Buy-to-let lending has been driven by remortgage business in recent years, so it’s great to see the proportion of lending for portfolio extension purposes increase and hit its highest level for nearly three years.” He went on: “It’s also encouraging to see that the balance of brokers expecting to write more buy-to-let business is positive for 2020 as confidence has been subdued for much of the past four years.”
Financial Reporter

House prices fell 1.7% in May from the previous month to an average of £218,902, the largest monthly fall for 11 years, according to Nationwide. As well as the biggest monthly slump since February 2009, annual growth in house prices slowed to 1.8% from May 2019, down from 3.7% in April and the slowest rate since December. Elsewhere, Bank of England data show a record collapse in mortgage approvals in April, with 15,800 home loans given the green light. This marks an 80% dip on February, when the market had yet to be affected by the coronavirus outbreak. The figures represent the lowest monthly total since Bank of England records began in 1993.
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The Telegraph’s Tim Wallace looks at various predictions for the market with different election outcomes, with ING predicting 10-year bonds could almost double to 1.5% by late 2020 under a high-spending Labour government. However, investors favour Labour’s Brexit plans as they are much closer to simply remaining in the EU than the Conservatives’ proposals.
The Daily Telegraph

Throughout 2019, the NACFB has received dozens of articles from lenders, brokers and other industry voices seeking to share an opinion on Brexit. Whilst the articles often read well and their point is well made, we know all too well that by the time they go to print they are likely be out of date and redundant, such is the blistering pace of current political development. It is with that caveat that Norman Chambers opted to write in October’s issue of Commercial Broker on a matter that remains central to the Brexit debate, one that is now more pertinent than it has been for over 70 years, exporting. In the article, Norman argues that whatever outlook the future brings, a close trading relationship with our neighbours remains vital for UK SMEs. Read his full feature on the importance of trade finance here.
Commercial Broker: We are not an island

The economy suffered its weakest three months since early 2009 with ONS data showing growth flat in October after two months of declines. The ONS said: “Increases across the services sector [were] offset by falls in manufacturing with factories continuing the weak performance seen since April. Construction also declined across the last three months with a notable drop in house building and infrastructure in October.”
Financial Times The Daily Telegraph

An investigation by the Times reveals that Google is making tens of millions from scammers who are using its search engine to lure savers to invest in high-risk or potentially fraudulent schemes. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has issued warnings over six savings websites reported by the newspaper, which is calling for more action to protect the public from web predators.
The Times The Times

Research by Price Bailey has found that more small housebuilders have gone out of business in the most recent 12-month period than at any point since 2015, with 343 lost in the year to September due to stagnating house prices and rises in both raw materials and labour costs. “Subdued activity in London and the South East and falling prices as people defer purchases due to Brexit uncertainty have all taken their toll,” said the firm’s Paul Pittman.
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The number of new second charge mortgage agreements rose by 20% year-on-year in September, the Finance and Leasing Association (FLA) has revealed, with lenders agreeing 2,355 over the month, a 20% year-on-year increase, bringing the annual total to 27,092. The value of new business was £105m, up by 18% from September 2018. FLA interim director general Fiona Hoyle says: “The second charge mortgage market reported another month of double-digit growth, with the latest annual new business volumes reaching more than 27,000, a decade-high”, although she added “While the market has returned a strong performance so far in 2019, new business volumes remain well below pre-crisis levels”.
Mortgage Strategy Mortgage Introducer

MPs on the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee have heard from Thomas Cook’s former auditors. The hearing saw the Committee accuse PwC and EY of being complicit in the failure of the tour operator, questioning why accounts were signed off when the board had been told of risks to the firm’s financial stability and concerns over some accounting practices were raised. Committee chair Rachel Reeves warned that accountancy firms have not shown a “learning curve” from the collapse of several large companies. She added that legislation is needed to deliver tougher regulation as the industry “is not willing to make the changes needed.”
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The Personal Finance Society (PFS) says the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Treasury need to shake up the professional indemnity (PI) insurance market, with firms seeing premiums soar. The body says while some businesses that offer defined benefit transfers have been quoted a 500% increase in their PI insurance premiums, others have been “unable to secure any ongoing professional indemnity cover whatsoever”. The FCA increased the Financial Ombudsman Service’s (FOS) award limit to £350,000 from £150,000 in April, prompting the PFS to warn that this delivered an instant impact on the cost of PI insurance. Keith Richards, chief executive of the PFS, said the increase – coupled with the possible outcome of the FCA’s supervisory focus – “is driving PI insurers away from the market, restricting access to advice and therefore preventing people from being able to exercise their rights under pension freedoms.”
International Adviser FT Adviser

The latest report from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) suggests economic growth for the next two years will remain “modest”, at 1.3% this year and 1.2% in 2020 before rising to 1.8% in 2021. The CBI says this is based on an assumption that the UK leaves the EU by 31 January and has “clear line of sight” to a trade deal involving alignment with EU rules. CBI chief economist, Rain Newton-Smith, said: “Transforming a lost decade of productivity will only be possible if supported by a good Brexit deal – one that keeps the UK aligned with EU rules, essential for frictionless trade, along with protecting the UK’s world-beating services sector, which accounts for 80% of our economy.”
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HMRC is chasing Amazon, eBay and overseas sellers who use online marketplaces for £585m in unpaid VAT. While some demands have been sent to the large internet firms, in some cases officials have sent VAT bills directly to foreign sellers who market goods to UK buyers. Firms with a turnover of more than £85,000 a year have to register with HMRC and pay VAT of 20% on goods sold online, with rules introduced in 2016 giving the taxman the power to bill online marketplaces if sellers evade tax. The Revenue has contacted sellers over £315m in tax owed, with Amazon and eBay contacted over a further £270m. George Turner, at TaxWatch UK, has called for tougher rules, warning that VAT fraud is “devastating to legitimate British businesses”.
The Mail on Sunday

The number of remortgages completed fell in June, according to research conducted by LMS. The number of remortgages fell from 53,624 to 53,516 between May and June. Despite this, the average loan amount rose from £168,259 to £174,685 over the same time frame. The data highlights that the most popular remortgage product in June was five-year fixed rate offerings, with 46% of all remortgages falling under this category.

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The Bank of England has cut its forecasts for UK growth over the next two years. It also warned that a no-deal Brexit would hit the economy and trigger a further drop in the value of the pound. The Bank left interest rates unchanged at 0.75% against a backdrop of weaker global growth and ongoing trade tensions between the US and China. It said the UK economy was expected to grow by 1.3% this year, down from a previous projection of 1.5% in May. The Bank also cut its outlook for growth in 2020 to 1.3%, from a previous projection of 1.6%. The forecasts are based on the assumption that the UK leaves the EU with a Brexit deal – however it suggested growth could be much slower in the event of no deal.

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The number of mortgage approvals hit 66,400 in June, up from 65,650 in May, according to the Bank of England’s latest data, above economists’ expectations and the highest number since January. Howard Archer, an economist at the EY Item Club, said the reprieve from a disruptive Brexit in March, together with better consumer purchasing power and strong jobs growth, had helped, although the “overall benefit has been relatively limited”. Annual lending growth to UK consumers slowed to 5.5% in June, from 5.7% in May, the slowest rate since April 2014.

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The European Central Bank has hinted it could cut interest rates to tackle a slowdown in the eurozone economy. It said a weak manufacturing sector and uncertainty about Brexit and trade threatened to derail growth in the bloc. The ECB, which kept interest rates on hold on Thursday, said it saw rates at present or lower levels until mid-2020. It is also considering other measures to support the eurozone, including resuming quantitative easing.

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High street banks agreed more than £50bn of mortgages to homebuyers in the first half of the year, up 10% on the first six months of 2018 and setting up lenders for their biggest year since 2007, according to data from UK Finance. The loans were offered to almost a quarter of a million homebuyers in the first six months, up 6% on the first half of 2018. The number of mortgages approved for house purchase rose to 42,653 in June, on a seasonally-adjusted basis, up from 42,407 in May and close to April’s two-year high of 42,792. UK Finance said gross mortgage lending in June was 4% lower than the same month last year, at £21.9bn, as a result of a dip in remortgaging. The figures also showed that unsecured consumer credit growth was stable at 4.1%, still well below late 2016 levels of 7.1%. Lenders have become more cautious with customers as a result of actions by the central bank that hav e encouraged them to tighten lending standards.

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